Government House (Ontario) - Fourth Government House (Chorley Park)

Fourth Government House (Chorley Park)

Initially, the government sought to construct a new Government House on Bloor Street East, and twelve architects submitted proposals in 1909. However, as that area was becoming too commercial, the Province moved the site to a 0.06 km² (14 acre) parcel of secluded and undeveloped land in Toronto's Rosedale neighbourhood. The proceeds from the sale of the Bloor Street site were used to acquire the land in Rosedale.

The fourth Government House was constructed between 1911 and 1915. Dubbed Chorley Park, the house was designed by architect Francis R. Heakes and built of Credit Valley stone in a French Renaissance style, reminiscent of French châteaux in the Loire Valley. It was one of the most expensive residences ever constructed in Canada at the time, and outshone even Rideau Hall in size and grandeur. Sir John Strathearn Hendrie and his wife were the first vice-regal couple to live at Chorley Park.

During the Great Depression, Mitchell Hepburn made it a key component of his party's election platform to close Chorley Park, promising that an opulent palace would not be maintained by the taxpayers of Ontario; Chorley Park used 965 tons of coal to operate, whereas the average Toronto home used only six to seven. After Hepburn was appointed Premier, following the Liberal Party's victory in the 1936 provincial election, he was as good as his word and ensured that Albert Edward Matthews would be the last Ontario Lieutenant Governor to live in an official residence; in 1937, after only 22 years and seven viceroys, Chorley Park was closed. The contents of the house were auctioned off in 1938, bringing in a profit of $18,000, and Ontario became the first province in Canada not to have a Government House. (Alberta also closed its government house in 1938.) The estate was bought by the federal government and served various functions including as a military hospital during World War II, the headquarters of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Toronto, and residence for refugees of the 1956 Hungarian uprising, including several of Imre Nagy's staff members.

Under mayor Nathan Phillips in 1960, the City of Toronto bought the house for $100,000 in order to destroy it and create municipal parkland. At the time, Chorley Park was considered dilapidated and outmoded, and municipal dollars were being spent demolishing heritage structures throughout Toronto to make room for modern buildings. The building was demolished in 1961, and the grounds of the estate were added to the civic parks system.

The only trace of Government House left is the bridge to the forecourt, and some depressions in the earth that outline the rough footprint of its foundations. The once formal gardens have long gone fallow and today Chorley Park is a 'naturalized' park.

Ontario's Lieutenant Governor currently uses an office and suite of rooms for entertainment at the Ontario Legislature, and lives in his or her private Toronto home, or is provided a rented residence by the Governor-in-Council.